How accurate is a Wechsler IQ test in a teen with ADHD and dyslexia?

[Anonymous]

My daughter has dyslexia. All of her scores on the WISC ranged from 110 - 114, unlike my kid with adhd who had a 124 in verbal comprehension and 88 in working memory. Her academic scores on the WJ were all in the low 80s in reading and writing.

[Anonymous]

A few issues here. One is that testing a teen is not as reliable as the late elementary years. The other is whether it would be correct for an FSIQ or GAI to be calculated. For my ADHD kid with motor-visual issues, neither FSIQ nor GAI were calculated because of the large spread in the subscores (several standard deviations). So neuropsych relied just on verbal score, which is considered one of the most important of the four subscores in terms of predicting academic success and is most commonly used with kids who are complex like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few issues here. One is that testing a teen is not as reliable as the late elementary years. The other is whether it would be correct for an FSIQ or GAI to be calculated. For my ADHD kid with motor-visual issues, neither FSIQ nor GAI were calculated because of the large spread in the subscores (several standard deviations). So neuropsych relied just on verbal score, which is considered one of the most important of the four subscores in terms of predicting academic success and is most commonly used with kids who are complex like this.

Why is testing done in late elementary more accurate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few issues here. One is that testing a teen is not as reliable as the late elementary years. The other is whether it would be correct for an FSIQ or GAI to be calculated. For my ADHD kid with motor-visual issues, neither FSIQ nor GAI were calculated because of the large spread in the subscores (several standard deviations). So neuropsych relied just on verbal score, which is considered one of the most important of the four subscores in terms of predicting academic success and is most commonly used with kids who are complex like this.

Why is testing done in late elementary more accurate?

I have a 10th graders who did a complete Neuropsychological and Educational Assessment in 5 th grade and 8th grade. The 5th grade assessment came back with mild to everything is fine. The 8th grade one (different neurophyscholgist) came hack with significant concerns - organization,executive function, ADHD).

I recently have been thinking about scheduling an update before she enters 11 th grade. With the cost being $4,500, I am wondering if it's worth it.

[Anonymous]

For kids with issues like dyslexia and ADHD, a neuropsychologist who tested our son said that the best measurement of what a child's IQ actually is is the verbal score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few issues here. One is that testing a teen is not as reliable as the late elementary years. The other is whether it would be correct for an FSIQ or GAI to be calculated. For my ADHD kid with motor-visual issues, neither FSIQ nor GAI were calculated because of the large spread in the subscores (several standard deviations). So neuropsych relied just on verbal score, which is considered one of the most important of the four subscores in terms of predicting academic success and is most commonly used with kids who are complex like this.

Why is testing done in late elementary more accurate?

I have a 10th graders who did a complete Neuropsychological and Educational Assessment in 5 th grade and 8th grade. The 5th grade assessment came back with mild to everything is fine. The 8th grade one (different neurophyscholgist) came hack with significant concerns - organization,executive function, ADHD).

I recently have been thinking about scheduling an update before she enters 11 th grade. With the cost being $4,500, I am wondering if it's worth it.

Do you anticipate your child heading to college, and are they likely to require or benefit from any accommodations there? If yes to both, you will need to have them tested once after age 16 (when they can use the "adult" version).

But you may be able to just do the educational assessment, and spend less money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious if the other diagnoses would throw off the IQ portion of the test or not. Thanks in advance.

What other test were performed and what were the subtlest results?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious if the other diagnoses would throw off the IQ portion of the test or not. Thanks in advance.

When our son was tested, the psychologist said no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few issues here. One is that testing a teen is not as reliable as the late elementary years. The other is whether it would be correct for an FSIQ or GAI to be calculated. For my ADHD kid with motor-visual issues, neither FSIQ nor GAI were calculated because of the large spread in the subscores (several standard deviations). So neuropsych relied just on verbal score, which is considered one of the most important of the four subscores in terms of predicting academic success and is most commonly used with kids who are complex like this.

Why is testing done in late elementary more accurate?

I have a 10th graders who did a complete Neuropsychological and Educational Assessment in 5 th grade and 8th grade. The 5th grade assessment came back with mild to everything is fine. The 8th grade one (different neurophyscholgist) came hack with significant concerns - organization,executive function, ADHD).

I recently have been thinking about scheduling an update before she enters 11 th grade. With the cost being $4,500, I am wondering if it's worth it.

If she will need accommodations in college, they usually require recent testing after age 16, using the adult versions of the tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The big picture question is, accurate to what? The question assumes there's an actual number that a perfect IQ test should approach, with some margin of error. The truth is that there's no such number -- the IQ number is whatever someone scores on the test.

The numbers are normed so that an average child scores 100. So there is no perfect score, there just how your kid compares to the average. The scores and subscores show where your child is relatively weak or strong, which can happen for a variety of reasons.

There is no “perfect” score, but a child take the test can hit the ceiling of the questions in the various sub test. Meaning that there are no more questions and they answered enough correction the last level to go to the next level, if there were another level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The big picture question is, accurate to what? The question assumes there's an actual number that a perfect IQ test should approach, with some margin of error. The truth is that there's no such number -- the IQ number is whatever someone scores on the test.

The numbers are normed so that an average child scores 100. So there is no perfect score, there just how your kid compares to the average. The scores and subscores show where your child is relatively weak or strong, which can happen for a variety of reasons.

I didn't say perfect score -- I said perfect test, meaning perfectly predictive. It doesn't measure an inherent quality, and so there's no meaning in saying "is it accurate for a teen with ADHD." It measures only what you get on the test, and in that sense can never be anything but 100% accurate. A better question in general is what the test measures.

[Anonymous]

As others have mentioned, the psychologist told us that the verbal was the most predictive of success even though the other scores were lower - I don't remember if he said they do/don't include the working memory/processing speed (hopefully not since it was much lower). Maybe they just include the verbal/quant sections to get the IQ score?

We were told that DS who was almost 16 at testing will need to test again by the summer before college if accommodations will be needed because they require recent, adult level testing (even though that's what DS just did). So to the poster who's thinking of testing at 16, you might consider waiting until right before college if your child is receiving services based on the middle school testing.